New and Different
by TLX
Summary: Hermione went to Australia to visit her parents and found something completely new and different. Written for Blue Artemis. Rated T. By Rose of the West


He didn't have a right to expect to be alive. At least that's what he was told, several times that night. The wall fell, and his lifeless body was assumed to be truly lifeless. Ever the meddler, Hermione looked at him and recognized from the advanced Muggle first aid books she had read that he'd merely had the breath knocked out of him, causing his heart to stop beating.

"Airway, breathing, chest compressions," she whispered to herself as she checked him and started to administer CPR. Within a few minutes, Fred was breathing on his own.

Ron's injuries were far less obvious but far more fatal. Within weeks of Lord Voldemort's death, he was rubbing his chest and muttering to himself about a cold pain. Within months, the tissue surrounding the mark left on his chest by the Slytherin locket was dead, and Healers could do nothing to stop the progression to his heart. There was no CPR that could fix him.

In the guilty grief that followed over the following year, Hermione and Fred found themselves together often. At first it had to do with the way that others in the family seemed to pair up, but after a while, they sought each other out at family gatherings and naturally gravitated together. After a long while, Fred and Hermione were thought of as a couple, even though they rarely touched, and despite the family's most careful espionage, they were never seen to exchange more than a quick kiss on the cheek.

No one was surprised when they went to visit Hermione's parents in Australia together. They spent a week with the Wilkinses, as Hermione's parents were called now, and then moved on to some magical parts of the country. They went to a dragon preserve in the shadow of Mount Kosciuszko and were met by Charlie, who was working there on a sort of exchange program.

Charlie took them up into a part of the preserve that was only accessible by broom. Hermione was still a bit timid of her skills, but Fred convinced her she would be fine. It was neither the first nor the last time she had cause to remember that she shouldn't trust Fred's judgement about anything important.

They flew in the midst of a clutch of silvery-blue dragons, and somehow she got separated from Fred while trying to maneuver past an animal the size of her parents' automobile. As the dragon's beat its wing, the disturbance in the air washed into Hermione, spinning her upside down.

She had no idea how to right herself, or how to regain control of the broom. The soft upper branches of a tree broke her fall, and as she fell the rest of the way to the ground, she had an impression of someone streaking toward her on his broom.

She was vaguely aware of stabilization spells being cast. A voice said, "That will keep her until we get her to the hospital."

"Will she be all right?" said the other voice. "She can't die on my watch, not after she saved my life." That was Fred, then.

"I think she'll be ok, but she needs Healers. We'll take her to Melbourne. Canberra is closer, but the hospital is better in Melbourne." This was obviously Charlie. He spoke quietly close to her ear. "I think you'll be better off if you're asleep, so I hope you don't mind."

There was a whisper and a wave of magic, and then as she lost consciousness, she became aware that someone was picking her up.

When she awoke in a hospital room, the first thing she noticed, amongst flowers and get well cards, was a brownish pygmy puff. When she looked a little more carefully, she realized it was a koala bear-or, no-it really was a pygmy puff. She leaned up in her bed to get a closer look.

"It's from the Weezes," a voice near her pillow explained. "One of the reasons Fred came here was to explore whether there was a market for the little fellows."

Hermione leaned back into her pillow, and spent a minute or two catching her breath after the pain she'd just caused herself. Merlin, was she sore. She turned her head and saw Charlie. "Where is Fred?"

"He's gone to get your parents. After that, I think he's planning to leave. I guess you had a portkey scheduled for today."

"Yes, and he should go. I know he's needed at WWW." She sighed. "I should have known not to listen to him when he said I'd be fine."

"You will be now." Charlie spoke with confidence and there was a look in his eye that Hermione knew she shouldn't argue with. "I had no idea that you weren't quite as comfortable on a broom. I thought since you were such good friends with Ron, Ginny, and Harry..."

"You assumed I could fly as well as any of them. Surprise, I can't."

"We'll take care of that, then."

"Don't think you can teach me when the others have failed. I'm hopeless."

"There are other ways to ride a broom."

"If you say so." She shrugged. She barely knew Charlie, and he her. He was just making polite small talk.

Hermione's parents came, and Charlie melted into the background. The Healers also came and explained that after a day or two of care and rest, Hermione would be perfectly fine.

The next day, Hermione went home with her parents, who enjoyed the opportunity to fuss over her.

"I'm not a child, you know," she protested.

"You're our child, and you never gave us enough chances to pamper you when you were one," said mum good-naturedly.

"You'd best let her at it," said dad.

Charlie came to visit after a week, just about the time Hermione realized she had read all of the books in the house and was getting bored. "I owe you a trip into the preserve," he said.

"I'm not going back on a broom."

"You won't be, but you've got to see the way the sun rises. Sometimes you can see the ocean from the mountains, and the sun rises, and... just come see it, Hermione."

"All right then. Will I be home by dinner?"

"I'll bring you back tomorrow."

He had a portkey to the preserve, and they walked over to where he had a broom tied to some sort of package. "This is how we go. The tent and our dinner and breakfast are in this special pack."

"I said no brooms."

"Hermione, I know you're smart, but trust me." She looked into his eyes and again saw a look that told her not to argue.

He guided her to a seat on the broom and then sat in front of her, instructing her over his shoulder to hold him around his waist. Suddenly, they were off the ground and headed into the preserve. Hermione had no choice but to grab around him tightly. First out of terror, and then out of a more controlled sense of self-preservation, but as they continued, she started to realize how very fit he was.

As they flew into another clutch of dragons, she knew a moment of fear, but Charlie was used to flying under these conditions and guided the broomstick smoothly through. Hermione, if she was willing to, might have reached out and touched one of the dragons, but for various reasons, she kept her hands exactly where they were.

* * *

"We're here."

Hermione was startled. She hadn't realized that the broom had stopped, nor that Charlie was trying to untangle himself from her grasp.

"Oh, sorry." She got up and looked around their campsite "It's beautiful here."

Charlie shrugged and started working the fastenings of the travel bag. "Officially, I'm here to count some of the new dragons that will have hatched recently."

Hermione nodded. "I'm sure that needs to be done, too."

"Unofficially, I wanted you to see this."

The way he said you had some significance to it, as if out of all the people in the world, she was the one he wanted by his side, here.

Perhaps he wanted her assistance. "I haven't read as much about dragons as I might have..."

"Don't worry about it."

He quietly put the tent together, but as she helped from the other side, she caught him looking at her. Or maybe he was catching her looking at him.

"D'you miss him?" he finally asked.

"Not in the least." Hermione answered. "Whom?"

"Fred."

"Oh, definitely, not in the least."

"Everyone in the family thinks you're a couple."

"Well, we've spent a great deal of time together, but... no." She shook her head emphatically.

Charlie looked at her and smiled, but then he frowned. "Who did you think I meant?"

"I didn't know," she answered. "Perhaps Ron?"

"Oh," he answered. His face became serious. "Do you miss him?"

"I really grieved his loss, you know. We were going to get married and have two kids named Rose and Hugo."

"Not Hugo and Rose?" There was that Weasley sense of humor. Hermione wasn't sure whether to sigh at him or hug him.

"Not either, now." It was said a bit waspishly. Hermione shrugged and sighed. "It's been long enough that I don't really miss him any more, but I still feel guilty. I should have realized what was happening. There were ways they could have isolated the spell and prevented the damage."

"If all the Healers at St. Mungo's couldn't figure it out, why should you?"

"Because I'm clever."

"Ah." He nodded to himself in that annoying way grown ups used to do whenever they humored her when she was little.

Charlie went back to work, forming a sort of firepit and gathering some wood for it. After a few minutes, he had a fire going, warming a small cauldron of water. "Care for some tea?"

Hermione sat down next to him and took the cup he offered her. They sipped and looked out over the view. Mountains all around, and off in the distance, something that might very well be the ocean. She could tell him how beautiful it all was, but he already knew, and it just seemed superfluous. Instead she took a deep breath of the crisp air and let it out slowly. They were sitting close enough that he nudged her with his shoulder and smiled. Somehow she knew that meant he agreed.

They sat like that for their entire cups of tea, and then she set about making more while he rummaged through the bag for the meal he'd brought. "The thing is," Hermione said, "I'm not seeing anyone right now."

He went very still and looked at her. "No?"

"No."

"Ah."

What did he mean by that this time? Frustrating man, just like them all. Yet she had a strange desire to know what this specific man was thinking. "Well, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"I'll let you know tomorrow morning."

What was that supposed to mean? Something was just about to sputter up and out when Charlie suddenly put his arm around her and pointed at the moon. "Look there."

"Oh."

It looked like a family of dragons. There were two big ones, a smaller one, and then two very small ones all flying through the moonlight. Hermione watched until a plate was set into her hands. "Here, eat."

She took the plate and ate her meal as another family of dragons flew in a different direction. She was completely out of her depth up here. There was no way she could return to the entrance of the preserve, her cooking skills were not at the same level as the man who was refilling her plate, and she didn't know very much about these fascinating creatures._ Any_ of the fascinating creatures, she realized as she looked over at Charlie. In an office in London, there was a desk that was no-doubt getting mounded over with paperwork she would need to address when she went back, and there were friends and a life. Yet her whole world could be this tent, this mountain... and this man.

She blushed and tilted her head down so that she could look at him through her hair. Surely it was just one of those momentary crushes. They would go back to their normal lives and each forget the other existed. Something in the pit of her stomach said it would be a terrible thing if that happened.

They did their small bit of washing and put out the fire. "You're right," Hermione said, "this is beautiful, and I'm very glad you brought me."

"You haven't seen the best part yet," said Charlie, as he walked her into the tent and they stopped where the doorway between their two sections was. "Just wait until tomorrow."

It was nothing like the camping they did that horrible last year with Harry, and yet it was similar, too. There were noises outside the tent but a sense of safety inside, and there was a sort of chumminess in knowing that there was someone just on the other side of the divider, in case she wanted to talk or something. It had been a long day, however, and before she had a chance to wish for a book, Hermione fell asleep.

* * *

"Hermione."

She was back in the tent with the boys, and the reddish hair told her who was waking her up. She reached up and pulled him down into a kiss.

He pulled away and said her name again. "Hermione, it's almost dawn."

She sat upright, shocked and surprised. "I'm so sorry. It's just similar enough to when... I don't know what came over me."

They stood outside the tent and got their bearings. Out toward the east it had got a bit misty, but there was still a good view, and as they watched, a thin orange line formed at the horizon. The orange got bigger and bigger, and suddenly the entire preserve below where they were standing seemed to move. Perhaps every dragon took to the air as the sun came up and flew to where their breakfasts would be waiting for them.

Hermione couldn't help herself. She stepped closer to Charlie and kissed him again. "Thank you, this was amazing. I'll never be the same."

She would have stepped away, but his arm was around her back. "You're very welcome."

This time, he kissed her. Hermione realized this wasn't just one of those crushes.

It was a few minutes before he let her go, and then he said, "In answer to the question, I'm definitely seeing someone."

Hermione felt a little dizzy and blinked for a second or two. "I believe I need to change my answer."

"Ah."

This time he followed it with another kiss.

Hermione didn't make it back to her parents' house that evening after all.


End file.
